This is a recurring question and lament on a lot of blogs:
For me, it was pretty simple.
I made a big meal on Sunday night, and packaged all the food ahead of time into 5 separate Starfrit Lock’n’Lid containers.
Yep same meal, every lunch. So I made it super delicious so I would look forward to eating it.
Or if you bring sandwiches, prep everything on Sunday night so that it’s easy to assemble in the morning and you can enjoy your breakfast/coffee without having to prep a lunch too.
Bring all 5 containers to work, and the empties home each night.
Or bring a container each morning before you go to work, and switch up the fruit and/or snack that normally goes with it so you don’t get bored.
And I just eat a different dinner each night so it doesn’t mean 30 meals a week of the same thing.
Oh and naturally, don’t microwave your lunch in the plastic box. Pour it on on a plate instead to avoid chemical seepage into your food and body.
I also keep a set of cutlery at work and I use them, wash them, and leave them there so I don’t have to keep remembering to pack it all over again.
Bonus? You can buy/bring a cute lunch bag. 🙂
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I make about 8 cups worth of popcorn each morning and bring it to work in a Gladware deep dish container. The clear container doesn’t look professional though, so I’m looking for an opaque container that isn’t unsightly in the cubicle farm.
We make extra food for dinner and then take the leftovers to work the next day. Keeps things from getting too repetitive, and the leftovers don’t go bad before they get used since we’ve got a system.
I also have a box of instant oatmeal packets and some soups, noodle bowls, and dried fruit in my desk if I need a snack or forget to bring my lunch with me.
Mr. just gets a repeat of what we had the night before. I make 5 servings for 3 people every night and both he and our housemate bring the leftovers. They have fancy insulated bags with fancy plastic containers and I’m about to buy Mr. this awesome cutlery set for Valentine’s Day.
– Frugal Urbanite
This is a great tip, but I wouldn’t be able to do it. I don’t like eating the same thing over and over again, at least not for six meals straight. This is partly because of my younger, poorer days when I existed solely off of Ramen noodles and hot dogs – of which I eat very little of these days.
Now, I don’t mind having leftovers from dinner the next day at lunch. So, typically, what I do is make enough to take to work and just leave it at that. However, I’ve just signed up for Nutrisystem – working on a new year’s goal – so I’ll be taking a prepackaged meal in for lunch. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me!
I couldn’t eat the same thing everyday! I think that would make me go out for lunch even more in the interest of spicing up my lunch 🙂
Beware the lunch thieves. Yes, there are actually pigs that steal food at work. This happened years ago with my yogurt. After a couple of weeks of losing my yogurt every day (which is a big deal for a young person just starting out in the world and not making much money!) and failing to catch the perpetrator, I taped a little circle of paper that said “I hope you get botulism” on the lid. My yogurt got stolen that day, but guess what? It never happened again.
And I still bring my lunch to work every single day.
Ooh, I need to get me one of those cute lunch bags. The one right now is something I got for free & is beat up!
Oh & the other big thing for me is to keep snacks readily available @ work or else I find myself venturing to the vending machine for unhealthy things sometimes & also spending unnecessary money.
I love pb&j, pb with bananas, and even pb&j with bananas. So I buy a loaf of bread, use it up making sandwiches and stick them in my freezer. In the morning I just need to grab one on my way out. I leave them in my desk drawer and by the time lunch roles around they have defrosted. The added bonus – I never know what I'm going to get!
I leave ready to go lunches in my desk, in case I forget to bring my lunch and don’t want to spend the extra cash to buy a lunch. Things like Ramen Noodles and Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup will keep, are cheap, can easily be made at work, and will suffice for lunch in a pinch.
A lot of people at my office bring sandwich supplies to work and leave it in the fridge. Each day they make a fresh sandwich at the office. We also work within walking distance from a Whole Foods, so stopping in there is an option as well.
Worse comes to worse, you can always look up lunch specials at local restaurants and bring 1/2 home for dinner. Sometimes I’ll buy a $5 foot long from Subway. I’ll eat 1/2 at work along with crackers or whatever else is available in the office. Then I’ll either leave the 1/2 half for the next day or take it home for dinner. $2.50 for a sandwich doesn’t break the bank.
You’re so right about taking the food out before microwaving. It’s those little things that lead to greater health and wellness. And, bringing your lunch is insurance for your wallet.
Jerry
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Thanks for not calling me out on this one! Ha. I’ll never not bring a lunch again but I probably will skip the cute bag part. 🙂
I’m a big fan of making soups/stews in big batches and then freezing them in individual portions so that they’re ready to go for lunch any time I need.
Shop on the weekend for next week’s lunch. I try to keep a variety of things available for snacks (pretzels, peanuts, carrots, oranges, etc) so I can choose something different every day.
I put things that need heating in pyrex glass containers and I have a padded lunchbox so no plastic!
I bring a small thermos filled with hot water so I can have tea at work.
I use a rice cooker to make a big batch of oatmeal, put it into pyrex containers, and have it for breakfast on my first break (I have trouble getting up early enough for breakfast at home).
Instead of doing the sandwiches all at once, we box up what we need for a week of sandwiches – to be made easily at work. Example: Pre-cream cheese/mustard/hummus a bagel, bring sliced tomato and a little tupp full of sprouts – possibly ham or whatever else sounds yummy. Voila. Instant lunch. If we prep them too far ahead, I find my bread gets soggy.
I think these are good tips. It really isn’t that difficult to pack a lunch at all. I typically have veggie burgers everyday at lunch with some pretzels and some veggies. It’s quick, convenient and yummy. Buying individual bags of baby carrots or even 100 calorie bags of pretzels is more expensive, but if it helps one from eating out, then there’s money saved in the long run.
And definitely bonus to you for mentioning not microwaving plastic. I always keep a glass dish in my desk if I need to heat something up. When I’m done, just wash it and put in back in my desk. No excuses. 🙂
Ok, I have to admit to an unholy obsession with/love of food storage containers which just makes bringing lunch even better.
I do something similar except I mix it up a little. Stuff in the freezer will keep for a few weeks so today’s lunch was Sunday’s big dish two weeks ago! I think it’s the last of it…I also buy some premade frozen meals if I’m not in the mood for my cooking, it’s still cheaper than eating out. I grab whatever and throw it in the bag with a drink, a yogurt, a snack and fruit or veggies.
I’m in the unique position of having a large fridge at work… in some cases I just bring some of the major ingredients to work and leave them in the fridge.
Our whole floor does this (bagels, cream cheese, salad dressing, milk, bags of lettuce, lunch meats, dressings) and oddly enough, we don’t really have a problem with anything going bad. It’s nice when everyone can work together like that. We also keep snacks and cans of soup, popcorn, etc. at the office.
It’s pretty much a small grocery store. But I guess this might be unique to the advertising world, since we often end up eating all 3 meals a day here :S
Chapters has super cute lunch bags AND laptop bags, so you can buy a matching set. Yes, I own a set. I am a geek. There are lots of really good lunchy foods…I really like the Campbell’s Healthy Request soups that are prepackaged in single-serving sizes. Lean Stuffs/Hot Stuffs are good as well, and easy to pack.